1 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Pre-1980: Unidentified

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Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

It is widely believed that HIV originated in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo around 1920 when HIV crossed species from chimpanzees to humans. Up until the 1980s, we do not know how many people were infected with HIV or developed AIDS. HIV was unknown and transmission was not accompanied by noticeable signs or symptoms.

2 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)

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Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

In 1981, cases of a rare lung infection called Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) were found in five young, previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles.

3 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)
  • Kaposi’s Sarcoma (1981)

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Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

At the same time, there were reports of a group of men in New York and California with an unusually aggressive cancer named Kaposi’s Sarcoma

4 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)
  • Kaposi’s Sarcoma (1981)
  • Gay-Related Immune Deficiency “GRID” (1982)

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Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

In June 1982, a group of cases among gay men in Southern California suggested that the cause of the immune deficiency was sexual and the syndrome was initially called gay-related immune deficiency (or GRID)

5 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)
  • Kaposi’s Sarcoma (1981)
  • Gay-Related Immune Deficiency “GRID” (1982)
  • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 'AIDS' (1982)

Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

In September, the CDC used the term 'AIDS' (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) for the first time, describing it as a disease at least moderately predictive of a defect in cell mediated immunity, occurring in a person with no known case for diminished resistance to that disease

6 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)
  • Kaposi’s Sarcoma (1981)
  • Gay-Related Immune Deficiency “GRID” (1982)
  • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 'AIDS' (1982)
  • Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus “LAV” (1983)

Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

In May 1983, doctors at the Pasteur Institute in France reported the discovery of a new retrovirus called Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus (or LAV) that could be the cause of AIDS.

7 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)
  • Kaposi’s Sarcoma (1981)
  • Gay-Related Immune Deficiency “GRID” (1982)
  • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 'AIDS' (1982)
  • Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus “LAV” (1983)
  • Retrovirus: HTLV-III / LAV (1984)

Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

In April 1984, the National Cancer Institute announced they had found the cause of AIDS, the retrovirus HTLV-III. In a joint conference with the Pasteur Institute they announced that LAV and HTLV-III are identical and the likely cause of AIDS.22 A blood test was created to screen for the virus with the hope that a vaccine would be developed in two years.

8 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  • Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  • Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)
  • Kaposi’s Sarcoma (1981)
  • Gay-Related Immune Deficiency “GRID” (1982)
  • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 'AIDS' (1982)
  • Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus “LAV” (1983)
  • Retrovirus: HTLV-III / LAV (1984)
  • Human Immunodeficiency Virus “HIV” (1986)

Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview

In May 1986, the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses said that the virus that causes AIDS will officially be called HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) instead of HTLV-III/LAV

9 of 9

AIDS Condition Nomenclature History

  1. Unidentified (Pre-1980)
  2. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, “PCP” (1981)
  3. Kaposi’s Sarcoma (1981)
  4. Gay-Related Immune Deficiency “GRID” (1982)
  5. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 'AIDS' (1982)
  6. Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus “LAV”(1983)
  7. Retrovirus: HTLV-III / LAV (1984)
  8. Human Immunodeficiency Virus “HIV” (1986)

Source: Advert History of HIV and AIDS overview

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/overview